What Games Could Actually Teach Us
There’s a lot of talk in the video game research arena about education. Among many other projects, we’ve got people looking at how games intersect with public diplomacy, how MMO games foster learning, and a major program to prove that poker can be an educational tool. Some of it’s spontaneous, and some benefits from 50 million in grant money set aside by large granting agencies, the MacArthur foundation in particular.
The following idea is something that I want to record, mostly just so that I don’t forget it. I’ve been writing a lot, lately, and sometimes that can cause a person to loose these ideas. It starts out with a simple anecdote:
My sister is an amazing ceramic artist and glass-blower. In order to learn these skills, she’s had to study with countless expert ceramic artists and glass makers. She’s also had to perfect her own styles, and like many master craftsman may never be able to preserve (assuming that she would want to) the knowledge of her process. A book can record words, and it can hold ideas, but there’s a strict limitation to how much it can show us about the process of a thing.
One branch of videogame technology could be the preservation of knowledge which might have otherwise died out. Through a dynamic interface and next-gen input devices (think the Wii), we could present audio and visual from great masters, and they could teach skills of enormous historical, cultural, and practical significance.
Imagine being able to watch and perform the art of ancient Japanese swordmaking, as the great masters once practiced. There’s little doubt that they’d be reticent to digitize their craft, many would likely see it as a pursuit only for those willing to give to it a part of themselves. For many other activities and process-based knowledge, and learning, we could use this technology to preserve and teach in ways which have heretofore been impossible.
Thoughts?
Sounds worthwhile. And… oddly fun…